As a sworn enemy of reality, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has found a home in the ironically-named "truther" movement. He has publicly stated his belief that the attacks of 9-11 were a "big fabrication" and were a pretext for the invasion of Afghanistan (read about his comments here).In the context of my recent postings about world leaders and conspiracy theories, I thought this story was very interesting. While he doesn't represent any real executive power in Iran, it is certainly alarming that even a titular head of state can say such things in public. It's even scarier that these kinds of comments tend to rally his base, rather than embarrass them.
Are there ANY voices of reason out there?
Jay Bee, you are a voice of reason. We just need to make you a titular head of state somewhere.
ReplyDeleteWhy do people have pet conspiracy theories? There may be about as many reasons, conscious and unconscious, as there are people, but surely there must be some trends.
Why do people care to believe that we didn't land on the moon or that 9-11 was staged? Is it discontent over some other issue in their lives? If so, would people be less likely to believe in conspiracies if they had happier lives?
Or maybe the ability to believe in conspiracy theories has nothing to do with personal satisfaction.
And if there is no discernible trend, then what is to be done?